Empath, Prankster and Ninja Lessons
by StyxTamasa
Summary: It wasn't the first time he was overwhelmed by the neglect and scorn, being the village pariah from as far back as he can remember, running away is the next logical step. But it was a first for someone to reach out and gently take his hand. And now he was living with a heiress, a former ninja who had a mental breakdown, and had a penchant for pranks disguised as Ninja Training
1. Chapter 1 Gentle Hands

**Empath, Prankster and Ninja Lessons**

 **Chapter One Gentle Hands**

* * *

He ran off again. Away from the adults that ignored him or worse, away from the children who avoided him or scorned him.

He couldn't understand why they were like this. Why he was treated this way. He couldn't remember a time when someone hugged him besides the old man. He never knew a time when someone treated his wounds or kissed him good night.

He just couldn't stand to be in that place any more, within the walls of the orphanage where he was treated like a pariah. But even running from those walls, those people, he couldn't escape from the looks, the scorn.

He made his way, fighting back tears of frustration, sadness and pain through streets unfamiliar to him and farther from the orphanage then he's ever been. These people unfamiliar but their actions the same.

He was so confused! His emotions were so overwhelming that he could hardly breathe! He just wanted to scream! Do anything to make them stop! To understand why! To have someone, anyone who'll just look at him with something even remotely positive!

Naruto stopped amidst the crowd of people, a wide berth around him. Fists clenched, body tense, face tight with emotions and feeling this overwhelming urge to just run! But before he could do that, a gentle hand settled onto his shoulder and he jerked in surprise and a bit of fear.

He turns around hurriedly, out of the persons grasp and looked up to see a young woman on her haunches smiling gently and her eyes beseeching. "Hello."

Naruto was still tense, unsure how to respond, what to do, as he swallows a bit fearfully. "Hello"

"I'm Aika (love song)" the woman introduces, holding out a slim pale hand.

"Naruto," he mumbles, unsure whether to take the proffered hand or not. Hope warring with fear.

"Naruto," Aika smiles invitingly, slowly reaching out to take his hand and shake comfortingly. "I am happy to meet you, Naruto."

 *******EPaNL*******

"So, the people at the orphanage blamed you for something you didn't do and kicked you out just because the kids you were trying to stop said you did it." Aika whispers chewing on her stick of pocky. "And they wouldn't even listen when you tried to explain."

Naruto sniffs loudly, his own stick of pocky hanging limply in one hand as he tried to wipe the evidence of his tears off his face.

After Aika-neechan introduced herself Naruto broke down and cried. She had panicked a bit but in the end carried him to a quite park bench where she held him until he stopped crying. As soon as he did, she sat him beside her, handed him a snack and asked what was wrong. He was so overwhelmed and happy to have someone, _anyone_ , care that he just let it all come out.

Aika pulls a handkerchief from her pocket, gently pulls his hand away and carefully begins to wipe his face. She pinches her lips together and looks a bit dazed but focused. "That isn't fair at all." She whispers.

"Why do they hate me so much?" Naruto asks, not really expecting an answer but desperately needing to ask.

Aika stops her ministrations and looks down her fist clenched and trembling. "I..." She whispers, voice quivering before biting her lip and looking up determinedly. "It's because they don't know you. And because they're too stubborn to learn."

"I don't understand," Naruto says, eyes brimming with new tears.

Aika's looks at the boy regretfully before gently running her fingers through his golden hair. "Maybe one day you will, Naruto. I'm so sorry that you have to shoulder such a burden and I hate to ask you this but please Naruto, please be strong and don't bow to the burden you carry and please, find it in your heart to forgive us all."

"Forgive?" Naruto asks incredulously. Why was she sorry? Why did he have to forgive her? She was so nice to him, she never hurt him.

"It might be hard and it might take time but I hope someday you will." She whispers tears trickling down her face.

Panic twists his stomach as Naruto watches Aika cry, his throat tightening with his own desire to cry. "Don't cry Aika-neechan! I forgive you! You're so nice to me so please! Please don't cry!"

Aika sniffs gently, a watery laugh following. "It's okay Naruto. Sometimes you just need to cry. I'm all right."

"Are you sure?" Naruto sniffs, his own tears beginning to build.

Considering his own heart felt expression, Aika smiles gently and holds out her hand. "Will you hold my hand?" She asks, taking in his stunned and rather timid expression. "It'll make me feel better."

Naruto bites his lip and slowly reaches out to take her hand. As soon as he does, Aika gently squeezes it before relaxing her grip so that he could pull away any time.

Naruto blushes and his hand trembles but he keeps his hand there as they cry in the empty park.

* * *

 **A/N: So. I'm not quite sure what possessed me to do this but I decided to try it out any way. Welcome one and all to my very own first published fanfic. Don't be to hard on me but I would like to hear any helpful criticisms. Thank you for taking the time to read this and (hopefully) review.**

 **I don't own Naruto by the way. That's all that needs to be said in the disclaimer.**


	2. Chapter 2 Ninja Lesson: Trust

**Empath, Prankster and Ninja Lessons**

 **Chapter Two Ninja Lesson: Trust**

* * *

"I don't want to go back." Naruto mumbles.

Aika-neechan looks down at him and gives Naruto's hand a gentle squeeze. "Honestly, I don't want you to go back either Naruto, but I can't just take you."

"Why not?" Naruto asks, a desperate yearning in his voice. "Can't I go home with you Aika-neechan? I promise to be good! I'll do whatever you want!"

Aika pauses and looks down at Naruto, eyes wide. "Naruto, you just met me. What if I was a bad person who tricked little children and hurt them?"

"You're not a bad person!" Naruto confidently exclaims.

"I'm happy you're so sure," she smiles a bit nervously. "But I'm worried about how sure you are. You said you wanted to be a ninja, right?"

"Yeah! I'm going to become Hokage someday!" He proclaims, grinning widely.

"Well as a ninja and Hokage, you're going to meet people who only pretend to be nice but really are just trying to get information or try to hurt you or your loved ones. As a ninja, you have to be careful about who you trust." Aika says firmly, kneeling to look him in the eye, hands on his shoulders. "If you're not careful, you can be tricked into doing something bad or you'll get hurt. You can't trust blindly Naruto, you need to be sure before you let someone at your back."

"Are you going to trick me or hurt me, Aika-neechan?" Naruto frowns.

"People lie Naruto," she says, refusing to answer the question, she needed him to _understand_. "Not all the time but they do. They can lie through words and really good liars can even lie through actions. But no one's perfect, everyone makes mistakes and it's what a person does instinctively and when they think no one is watching that tells you who they are."

Naruto listens intently to Aika-neechans words, face scrunched up in concentration before tilting his head to the side, "huh?"

Aika bites her lip and looks around, they were in a rather secluded spot, hardly anyone on the road with them and those who were gave them a wide berth and blatantly ignored them. She needed to find a way to show Naruto what she means but how?

That was when an old lady began to slowly make her way down the road, cane clacking loudly as it hit the pavement.

"Naruto, do you see that old woman?" Aika whispers her hand firmly at the side of his head to keep it from obviously looking at the old woman.

"Um, yeah?" He replies, confused at the change of topic.

"Alright, we're going to follow her and I'll show you what I mean." Aika says, standing and taking his hand as they begin to carefully follow.

Confused but happy to spend more time with her, Naruto agrees.

"But first, disguises." Aika says firmly, leading him into a secluded spot, away from prying eyes and kneels with her back to him. "Get on my back Naruto."

A wide smile on his face, Naruto scrambles onto her back, his arms looping around her neck and his chin resting on her shoulder.

"I'm going to let you go, so hold on tight okay?" Aika says before doing so. As soon as she's sure Naruto was practically glued to her back, she performs a seal and a burst of chakra later, she was now a nondescript mother carrying an infant on her back. "Now stay quiet okay?"

Naruto was practically wiggling with glee as they began to follow the old woman through the shopping district under disguise. He was like a real ninja and if it wasn't for Aika-neechan telling him to be quiet he would be laughing up a storm and begging her to teach him some cool ninjutsu.

They kept a sporadic distance from the old woman at all times, occasionally two shops behind, sometimes ahead and once right beside her but she was always visible to Naruto and he watched her intently at Aika-neechans insistence.

He didn't know exactly why they were doing this but after a while, he started noticing something weird about that old lady. Sometimes she didn't act like an old lady. They were brief instances and there weren't many but they were still weird when he thought about it.

They had been following the old woman for about an hour, the sun beginning to set when the old lady led them to the ninja academy where a small group of children with a chunin instructor waited.

"Alright, Sato is the last one. Great job everyone. Make sure to practice your disguises, information gathering and infiltration skills." The instructor calls out. "Dismissed."

With that, the old lady pops with a puff of smoke and turns into a kid from one of the later years in the ninja academy.

All the children in the academy yard bow and bid farewell to their instructor and leave to their own homes.

Aika casually walks past them in the direction of the orphanage for a while then stops at an empty road.

"Do you understand what I was telling you Naruto?" Aika asks, disbursing the henge and kneeling to let Naruto off. "Ninja's aren't the only ones who lie like that. Who pretend. Lies can be as little as someone saying they like tomatoes or as big as saying the Hokage is being controlled. Not all of them are done or said to hurt someone but it doesn't change the fact they're lies and that there is always a reason for them, good or bad. This is why you have to be careful about who you trust, about what you trust."

Naruto bites his lip and nods. He was a little confused about the last part but he understood what she was telling him before... But... "I can trust you." Naruto says firmly. "I just know it."

Aika-neechan blinks in surprise before scoffing lightheartedly and smiling widely. "I'll try to live up to your trust."

"Do you trust me?" Naruto asks, head cocked, a serious expression on his face.

Aika-neechan looks deeply into his eyes a moment, face serious, before nodding firmly. "I can trust you."

"Do I still have to go to the orphanage?" He asks hopefully.

"You might not know this Naruto," Aika-neechan says. "But there are people who care about you and would be very scared and worried if they didn't know where you were. People who won't let me take you without being sure they can trust me with you."

"Like who?" He asks.

Aika-neechan smiles and takes his hand to lead him the rest of the way to the orphanage. "Well, what about old man Hokage? He's always visiting you right?"

"He visits all the other kids too though," Naruto rebukes.

"That doesn't make you any less precious to him," Aika-neechan replies. "A precious person is still a precious person. And I'm sure there are more. Have you seen anyone who hangs around you? Who drops by to check on you?"

"I don't know," Naruto shrugs, thinking back as far as he could. It was so hard to remember anything other than all the glares and the scorn.

" _WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU THREW HIM OUT_?" A voice growls out.

"He's a menace and a danger to the other children! I can't have that monster-" another shrieks before being cut off.

"He is a _child_! _Not_ a monster! He's a member of this village just like everyone else!"

Aika-neechan and Naruto turn the corner to see the head caretaker of the orphanage arguing with an Anbu agent just outside the orphanage.

The head caretaker squared his shoulders and voice trembling says, "I refuse to care for that _child_ ," he spits the last word. "Any longer. My agreement with the Hokage was for _five_ years, it has been several months since its fifth year."

Naruto's hand was trembling, his lip between his teeth and his eyes down cast.

Aika-neechan squeezes his hand reassuringly before kneeling and whispering in his ear. "See, I told you there were more people who care about you."

Surprised, Naruto looks at her in disbelief. What was she talking about? Was she seeing and hearing what he was?

She smiles and gestures to the Anbu agent. "Only someone who cares would be that angry for you. Would defend you."

Realization dawns and Naruto looks over to the dog masked Anbu agent. Now that it was brought to his attention, he recognized that mask. He was usually with old man Hokage whenever he came to visit and sometimes he came alone to take him to him when he was too busy to stop by. He was always in the background but he was still there.

"The Hokage will be hearing of this." The Anbu agent says menacingly, making the caretaker tremble.

The Anbu agent turns and freezes, finally noticing Aika-neechan and him.

Aika-neechan stands and leads Naruto towards the Anbu agent. "I found him in district nine. We spent the day together. He's fine."

The Anbu agents previously tense posture slowly relaxes before he tilts his head in acknowledgment. He lifts his hands and makes several hand signs that Aika-neechan watches carefully and nods.

"What'd he say?" Naruto asks, tugging at their linked hands. "And why doesn't he just talk like before?"

"He's a little embarrassed," Aika-neechan whispers sweetly into his ear. "I don't think he expected us to overhear his argument, now he-"

Aika-neechan is suddenly pulled back into the Anbu agents chest, mouth covered, wiggling with glee and amusement in her eyes.

"Aika, you talk too much." He says quietly and with an undertone of exasperation.

Aika-neechan giggles and taps the hand over her mouth, prompting him to release her.

"Sorry, sorry," she giggles. "I forgot how much your image means to you."

Even through the mask, Naruto could hear a heartfelt sigh. "Seriously, only you."

"Do you know each other?" Naruto asks, looking between them.

"He and I attended the academy together." Aika chirps.

"You're a ninja Aika-neechan?" Naruto asks excitedly. "Is that why you knew that jutsu?"

The Anbu agent turns toward her inquiringly and Aika shrugs. "I performed a henge and followed one of the academy students practicing their disguise and infiltration skills to teach Naruto something."

Turning back to Naruto Aika answers his question, "I _was_ a ninja. A chunin in fact but I may never be put into the field again."

"Why?" Naruto asks timidly, aware of the sadness and regret underlying her tone.

"Something happened that made it impossible for me to be put onto a team without endangering myself and others." She replies. "I haven't taken a mission in over five years."

"A pity too," the Anbu agent says. "She was a near perfect spy. Wasn't half bad at taijutsu and genjutsu either. She probably would be a tokubetsu jonin or jonin now if not for what happened." The Anbu agent says, his posture casual, his voice bored.

"Wow, really? That's so cool Aika-neechan!" Naruto exclaims, pushing away his desire to ask what happened. He wasn't sure why but he felt that Aika-neechan didn't want to talk about it and he didn't want to upset her. He didn't want to see her cry again today. "Hey, hey, do you think you could teach me to be a ninja? I promise to try really hard!"

Aika-neechan smiles gently and holds out her hand, Naruto immediately taking it. "Sure, Naruto. If it's all right with old man Hokage, I'll teach you some things."

Naruto grins gripping her hand tightly, his insides squirming with joy. This day may have started bad but it sure was ending great.

"Well as the saying goes, 'Delay not to seize the hour!' ( Aeschylus)" the Anbu agent says, hand placed on Aika's shoulder and the other in a seal.

Aika snorts just before the Anbu agent performs the shunshin no jutsu and they disappear leaving behind a few leaves in their wake.

* * *

 **A/N: Honestly, this story will more than likely be slower than most of you prefer or at least it will feel like that if I wait a week to upload a new chapter so, just this once and more then likely never again, I'll be uploading at least five today. I just want to give them a once over before I do that. So here's chapter two and Kakashi under the guise of Anbu agent Dog.**


	3. Chapter 3 Bad Beginning, Excellent End

**Empath, Prankster and Ninja Lessons**

 **Chapter Three Bad Beginning, Excellent End**

* * *

It was dark out. The streets were devoid of any children, most civilian families were already within the walls of their homes having dinner and relaxing after a long day.

Sarutobi Hiruzen could hardly remember a time he went home at this time of day. The last time, if he recalled correctly was the night before his dear wife died. The night before the kyuubi attacked the village.

Hiruzen sighs deeply as memories of that awful night floods his mind. "Has it truly been five years since that night?" He whispers.

It was then that Kakashi, dressed in his Anbu uniform, shunshin's into his office with two people, one an unexpected guest and the other a guest he had been expecting to see much earlier than this.

"Old man!" Naruto exclaims happily, lunging at the third Hokage who chuckled and embraced the boy.

"Naruto, it's so good to see you." Hiruzen smiles, hiding his fatigue. Sometimes, even Naruto's exuberance couldn't revive him. "I was expecting you _hours ago_."

The implied question was answered by Kakashi. "There was a problem at the orphanage." He says delicately.

"They kicked me out," Naruto says bluntly. "Even though it wasn't my fault but they wouldn't listen. But that's okay because then I met Aika-neechan and she taught me about trust and- and we followed this old lady and then- and then she told me about me being precious and then she said she'd teach be to be a ninja as long as jiji says yes so can you? Say yes!" Naruto laughs, his words rushed and barely coherent.

"They kicked you out?" Hiruzen asks, surprised but a cold fury slowly beginning to build.

"Yeah, some kids were picking on one of the babies, pinching her and making her cry and when I tried to stop them, one of the kids fell and started crying and when the grownups came they started yelling and they kicked me out." Naruto answers, fighting to keep his smile and light hearted tone and failing miserably.

Naruto's face becomes pinched and his lip trembles as he pushes his face into Hiruzen's side, clutching tightly to his robes. Hiruzen looks up at the other two present in the room, his eyes demanding answers.

"Naruto ran off afterwards and I found him wondering around district nine. We spent a couple of hours in the park there, just talking and when I was taking him back we came across an academy student practicing their henge and infiltration skills and we followed him back to the academy. I was trying to teach Naruto that not everything is as it seems and that he shouldn't trust me without being sure of my intentions." Aika says, summarizing their evening.

"Yeah, but I know I can trust Aika-neechan," Naruto says, his confidence obvious even past his tears and sniffles. "After that we went back to the orphanage and Aika-neechan was telling me that even though I trust her, people who care about me might not yet and that you'd be worried if she took me home and you couldn't find me. Then we saw Dog arguing with that mean old man and Aika-neechan told me that he was angry because he cared and stuff."

Nothing in Kakashi's posture gave it away but behind his mask(s) he was blushing in embarrassment. He wasn't ashamed about caring about Naruto, he just wasn't used to his emotions and feelings blatantly being pointed out.

"Dog was arguing with the caretaker?" Hiruzen asks, surprised. " _Aloud_?"

"Yeah, he even growled and stuff. He was angry that that mean old man was calling me a monster and kicking me out." Naruto confirms, innocently escalating Kakashi's embarrassment. "That mean old man said that he only said that he would take care of me for five years and I already had my fifth birthday so he wasn't going to take care of me anymore."

A silence follows Naruto's words. No one really knowing what to say.

"I was really sad and angry when I heard them yelling," Naruto says after a while, his face contemplative. "I don't get why he hates me so much, why everyone seems to... But Aika-neechan said that they only hate me because they don't know me and their too stubborn to learn..."

Hiruzen looks at the young woman in his office. She stood there, seemingly relaxed except for the fact she was beginning to perspire.

"I'll just have to show them who I am! I'll be so great that they can't ignore me anymore and they'll have to see me!" Naruto says firmly, drawing Hiruzen's attention once more. "Which is why you have to say yes, jiji! Even Dog says that Aika-neechan is super awesome! I just know I'll be a great ninja with her help!"

Hiruzen chuckles, sometimes he wonders if anything will keep Naruto down for long. He doubted it and that was why he was sure that Naruto would accomplish his dream. Seeing such determination gave him the strength to keep going. If Naruto, who was a little over five wasn't going to quit in the face of his obstacles, why should he bow to time?

Turning back to the young woman, Hiruzen notes the minute details that showed her strain; the slight tensing of her shoulders, her brow beginning to perspire, the barely discernable pinching of her lips, her twitching fingers. Signs that only a professional would pick up and proof that even now she was an excellent ninja. Or would be, when or if she overcomes her... _condition_.

"Aika, how are you feeling?" Hiruzen asks.

Aware of what exactly he was asking, Aika smiles, her face a bit tense with strain. "I'm a lot better than before. I've spent the entire day in the village... but I _would_ truly appreciate going home soon."

"Is something the matter, Aika-neechan?" Naruto asks, noticing the conversations undercurrent.

"I can't be around people too long is all." Aika replies nonchalantly.

Hiruzen makes a vague noise of agreement and looks over the girl worriedly. She may have played off how strenuous it was for her to be around too many people but Hiruzen knew better.

Aika was the sole member of the Shiragiku main family. They are a well-kept secret of the fire nation, a civilian clan with a kekkai genkai. Their kekkai genkai makes them natural sensors and excellent interrogators. They have the natural ability to sense chakra and can also feel the emotions of those around them. The more developed their chakra coils and the bigger their pools, the farther they can sense and the more they feel. The clan is scattered throughout the fire nation as physicians, psychologist, merchants; their ability makes them naturally predisposed to dealing with people. They are an old and wealthy clan. Aika, is the only living member of the main family. The reason for that; the kyuubi no kitsune. The night the kyuubi no kitsune attacked Konoha, the kyuubi incited panic, fear, despair, hatred, and confusion. Such a large concentration of negative emotions overwhelmed the members of the Shiragiku main family, who had made a home within the walls of Konoha, to the point that they were driven into madness. Some committed suicide, others became comatose or simply non-responsive and died.

Aika is somewhat of a miracle. She was the only member of her family to develop her chakra for use as a ninja and that should have killed her. But she managed to hold onto a sliver of her sanity and four years later, she left the psychiatric institution to live in her family's home.

She may never be able to handle the strain of battle, but she was building herself up again and Hiruzen was sure she would return to being a ninja of Konoha, even if only as a chunin instructor.

The question was; was she ready? Was she ready for even a single student? He wasn't worried about her ability as a ninja or instructor, he was worried about her well-being. If she pushed herself, she could be driven into seclusion. All the progress she had made in the past five years could be for nothing and she had gone through so much already that he'd hate for that to happen.

"I can handle it, Hokage-sama." Aika says, smiling comfortingly. "I told Naruto I would help him. I can do it."

"Ma, as long as the training is mostly done in her home, I don't think it'll be much of a problem." Kakashi interjects.

Hiruzen raises an eyebrow at Kakashi's conduct, under different circumstances he would have had Kakashi disciplined for his casual behavior but considering the only people within the office were him, Aika (who knew who was under the Anbu mask and was someone you literally could hide practically nothing from) and Naruto (who was only five and had little to _no_ observational skills), he would allow it. Just this once. Though he _would_ be discussing this with him at a later time. Turning his attention back to the conversation at hand, Hiruzen looks into Aika's confident gaze and Naruto's pleading eyes and sighs deeply. "As long as you're sure, Aika-chan."

"Yes! You're the best, jiji!" Naruto exclaims, jumping up, arms out stretched.

Hiruzen chuckles and waves them all into seats and taking his own, Naruto climbing onto his lap. "Now, as for Naruto."

"What about me?" Naruto asks, head tilted back, grin firmly in place.

"Well, we need to figure out some living arrangements for you." Hiruzen replies. "I don't much care for putting you back in the orphanage, so the question is where shall you live."

Aika smiles indulgently, brow raised and huffs in exasperation. "Are you asking _me_ or _Dog_ to take Naruto in?"

Hiruzen coughs and pulls his hat down to cover his light blush. He should know better than to be anything but blunt with a Shiragiku. They weren't much for beating around the bush and were liable to call you out when you did.

"I can't even take care of my house plant," Kakashi volunteers. "Naruto would be much safer with you Aika."

"You _are_ rather hopeless," Aika sighs dramatically. "If Naruto went with you, I'd never get a wink of sleep for worrying so much. Especially considering your taste in literature. He's far too young to be corrupted just yet."

Kakashi shrugs, taking the jibe in stride.

"I'm going home with you?" Naruto asks hopefully.

"Well, I'm going to be your sensei, so I suppose that would make the most sense." Aika smiles teasingly. "I guess you get your wish Naruto."

"Yes! Best! Day! _Ever_!" Naruto shouts, jumping up again and trembling with excitement.

* * *

 **A/N: Enter the Sandaime Hokage and some background for Aika, her circumstances and her family.**


	4. Chapter 4 Family Home

**Empath, Prankster and Ninja Lessons**

 **Chapter Four Family Home**

* * *

"This is where you live?" Naruto asks in awe as they enter through the main gate.

It was... **HUGE**.

When you enter, you are given a full-frontal view of a large Japanese garden. A large pond to your left, weeping willows doting the edges, white chrysanthemum patches scattered across the yard along with some knobby trees that had an artistic feel. It was a huge front yard and one her parents had used to host outdoor events for just about everything. Even after their death, an Aburame came once a month for pest control and a Yamanaka came every week to care for the plants and keep them controlled. There was even a green house on the property used to grow herbs for Konoha, plants that were hard to come by if you weren't extremely wealthy or well connected; two things the Shiragiku family were.

"It's really big, huh?" Aika laughs awkwardly. It was kind of embarrassing.

"Are we going to train out here?" Naruto asks excitedly looking around frantically.

"No," she replies feeling a blush begin to creep over her cheeks. "When I decided I wanted to be a ninja, my parents had a training ground and dojo built for me to use at home."

"Really?! So cool!" Naruto laughs, ready to run off to explore.

Before he could do just that, Aika quickly grabs his hand and reels him back to her side. "You can explore tomorrow Naruto. Let's go inside, eat and go to bed."

Naruto, grin firmly in place, begins to tug her toward the entrance of the house right across from them and Aika follows.

The entrance way was rather wide and long with shelves for shoes on the left side and a closet on the right to fit just about anything else. It had four niches within the walls that mimicked round windows with geometric designs and where flower arrangements were placed to give an inviting feel.

Straight ahead was an inner courtyard with only a single tall twisted tree, a few stone flower pots of varying sizes, white sand, stepping stones and two sets of stairs leading up to the second floor in opposite directions.

"The first floor has a large guest room, sitting room, tea room, dining room, game room, family room and formal room." Aika says starting from the room to her left and circling back around.

"Where's the kitchen? And the bathrooms?" Naruto asks awed by the size of not only the house but the rooms. Really, most of the rooms could be closed off with screen doors and there would be twelve large comfortable rooms.

"The kitchen is out back, as is the laundry room," Aika says, opening the screen door in the dining room out into the yard where Naruto could see a long open hall leading to a separate building. "The bathrooms are between the guest room and sitting room, game room and family room, and in the library, which is connected to the formal room."

"I thought you said there was a dojo?"

Leading Naruto into the family room, Aika opens the screen to the outside, revealing the training grounds, which was, bigger than the front courtyard. "The building to your left is the dojo, which also has a bathroom the two-story section to your right is the library and storage room."

Leading Naruto back inside, Aika takes Naruto up the stairs. "Over the dining room are two communal baths, side by side, four large bedrooms with their own toilets, two large suites with a sitting room, toilet, and large bedroom, and you can also access the library from up here. You can pick any room you like."

"Where's your room?" Naruto asks.

"I have the suite connected to the library and overlooking the training grounds." Aika replies. Her parent's way of being supportive of her decision to become a ninja, give her everything she'd need and let her live the life she chose.

Naruto rushed into the room right beside her own and back out the other side to look out at the training ground. "I'll take this one!" Naruto calls back gleefully.

Aika smiles and heads down the stairs, "I'm going to start dinner, I'll call you back down when it's done."

"Oh! I'll help!" Naruto yells just before he rushes after her.

"Don't you want to explore a bit? It's a really big house." Aika asks smiling as Naruto takes her hand. ' _He's going to be clingy at first, isn't he?'_ Not that she minded, it was actually kind of nice but she hoped he would come to trust her not to change her mind and abandon him. He told her he trusted her, and on the surface, that was true. But after so much neglect, scorn and hatred, a part of him was afraid that she would leave him, which would probably be just as bad if not worse than physically beating him. So even though it was nice to feel his smaller hand clasped in her own, she knew he was holding her hand to convince himself she was there and wasn't going to leave him. The desperation, tinge of fear and hope spoke volumes to her.

"I can explore some other time." Naruto replies smiling.

"Okay," Aika agrees then remembers something. "Oh, on the other side of the kitchen, in the opposite corner then the dojo we also have a hot spring."

"Why do you have so many rooms?" Naruto asks, confused and then awed as he enters the kitchen.

"I have a big family, so whenever they came to visit they'd stay in this house. My mother also hosted the clan council, the ladies council and a number of events in this home."

"Hey, where _are_ your parents?" Naruto asks suddenly.

Aika pauses in preparing the rice, a wave of grief crashing down on her. "My parents died years ago, so did my brothers and sister."

"Ah, I'm... I'm sorry, Aika-neechan." Naruto mumbles.

Aika sniffs lightly, willing the tears away and smiles at the boy. _'He was so sweet.'_ "It's okay Naruto. I'll always miss them and it'll always hurt but they wouldn't want me to stop doing what I wanted just because their gone. They would have liked you, you know."

Naruto smiles shyly then begins to help her prepare dinner.

* * *

 **A/N: Kind of a filler chapter. Hope my description of the properties layout was alright. It's kind of vague how I describe the Aika's home but I'll probably describe it more later.**


	5. Chapter 5 Day One

**Empath, Prankster and Ninja Lessons**

 **Chapter Five Day One**

* * *

The next day, Naruto's morning started a little bit different than he thought it would.

With a bucket of ice cold water poured over him.

"Good morning," Aika-neechan greets sweetly, oh so innocently holding an empty bucket over him.

"What?" Naruto asks, still a little dazed over the fact that _sweet, sympathetic, caring Aika-neechan_ just dumped _ice water_ over him.

"It's time to get up." Aika-neechan states, walking out of the room. "Oh! And Naruto, you need to be more aware of your surroundings, even when you _are_ asleep." She says, the smile she gives him over her shoulder small and _still_ managing to sound like a threat. "Get dressed, we have morning training."

"What?" Naruto asks the empty room then shivers from the cold.

He makes his ways down stairs, looking around for Aika-neechan, officially a little hesitant about this training thing.

"I'm in the training ground!" Naruto hears Aika-neechan yell.

Approaching cautiously, Naruto steps into, then out of the family room to see Aika-neechan standing in a clearing.

"I'm going to walk you through some stretches and then I'm going to test your speed, strength and stamina, okay?" She smiles. "Then we'll eat."

Naruto nods, then slaps himself on his cheeks. Okay, so it was a little weird to see this side of Aika-neechan, but she was helping him and that means he needed to try his best!

An hour and a half later, Naruto wasn't too sure how long he'd be able to keep up with her training.

"Wow, Naruto, you have some amazing stamina." Aika-neechan says, kneeling down where he collapsed. "You're not very flexible and your only average as far as speed, but your pretty strong too."

He'd say something, but breathing was a little hard at that moment. He vaguely wondered if this was child abuse then he felt his shirt being raised.

He looks down and sees Aika-neechan pressing her fingers around his ribs and stomach before moving onto his arms and legs. "What do you usually eat Naruto?"

What does that have to do with anything? "Um, mostly rice, cup of ramen, milk. I don't really like fish, it tastes and smells funny."

"Fruits? Vegetables? Any other meats?"

"I don't like vegetables. I only get to eat fruit every once and awhile and aren't those brown bits in ramen meat?"

Aika-neechan looks at me for a second then rubs the bridge of her nose, taking deep breaths. "The people at the orphanage didn't feed you anything else?"

Naruto shakes his head, wondering what the problem was. It wasn't like they starved him. Sometimes he got hungry but it wasn't all the time and food was food.

"Alright Naruto," Aika-neechan says resolutely. "While your here I'm going to teach you how to take care of yourself. That means cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping and finances. I'm going to train you and I'm going to teach you. So, you better be ready Naruto."

The gleam in her eye was a little frightening but he asked for this and Uzumaki Naruto never went back on his word!

 *******EPaNL*******

After breakfast, Aika-neechan sat him down to talk. "After today I have an idea where you are physically but being a ninja isn't just about being strong, it's about being smart too. Tonight, I'm going to give you a test to see where you are but I have to get the test first, so until then you can do whatever you want."Aika-neechan says, talking over Naruto's groans over taking a test and setting a firm hand on his shoulder just as he was getting ready to run off and explore. "You can go out into the village if you want, I'll be heading down there myself, I can pack you a lunch but I want you back before the sun sets alright?"

"Yes, Aika-neechan!" Naruto smiles, fatigue gone and excitement building.

"Are you going to head out?" Aika-neechan asks.

"Is it okay if I stay here and explore?" Naruto asks.

"That's fine, just pick up after yourself and be careful." She agrees, standing to leave.

"Don't worry! I won't break anything!" Naruto replies confidently.

"I was talking about you." She says, rolling her eyes. "I'd be really scared if I came home and saw you hurt yourself somehow. I'll make you something for lunch that I expect to be eaten before I return, okay?"

Feeling warm inside Naruto nods and helps Aika-neechan make lunch before seeing her off. Just from this morning, Naruto was sure the training would be hard, but he was sure that it was going to be more than worth it if only for the fact of knowing Aika-neechan cared.

 *******EPaNL*******

After she left, she headed straight for Yamanaka flowers to procure an IQ test commonly used within the academy from Inoichi, head of the Yamanaka clan. Every ninja clan had a hand in the academy curriculum. The Yamanaka clan were essentially Konoha's Ninja psychologists, so they handled any lectures centered around dealing with the loss of comrades, missions gone wrong, first kills and other common monumental events that occur for active ninja. They, along with their allied clan the Nara, also created an IQ test given to the academy students on their first, third and fifth year.

However, a task that should have been easily completed took two hours because they _were_ Konoha's go to psychologists. When she was institutionalized, Inoichi was her psychiatrist and he set conditions to her obtaining the requested test. Namely, she was required to visit him once a week for a follow up to make sure she wasn't staining herself.

"I mean it Aika-chan," Inoichi calls as she begins to leave. "I better see you sometime next week or I'll be coming to visit myself."

"I have plenty of guest rooms," Aika calls back cheekily. "Bring your family."

Inoichi laughs at that. "I just might."

Making her escape, Aika makes her way to the Hokage tower. When she got there, she was almost immediately ushered in.

"Aika-chan, I was hoping to see you soon." Hiruzen smiles. "Where's Naruto?"

"He wanted to explore the house," she replies, sitting down across from him after he gestures for her to sit. "I had some things to discuss with you regarding Naruto."

"As did I," Hiruzen agrees. "But I can wait. What is it you wanted to discuss?"

"I wanted to ask you to send over a medic to give him a full physical." She says bluntly. "Preferably with Dog."

Raising a brow in surprise and gesturing her to continue, Hiruzen could tell he wasn't going to like what he was going to hear.

"I'm no professional, but I believe that Naruto is malnourished and I'm concerned that that isn't all." Aika says tightly. "I would take him to a doctor myself but I don't think I'm ready for that and I'm not sure I can trust any doctors to be professional in regard to Naruto. What I've seen and felt so far doesn't inspire my faith."

"Thus, the reason you would like Dog to escort them." Hiruzen concludes. He wished he could say such measures were unnecessary, but he could not.

"Naruto may not be the only one, Hokage-sama." Aika says. "The caretaker... He was so mean spirited... I'm concerned about the well-fair of the children in the orphanage."

"I will have someone investigate," Hiruzen sighs, desperately hoping Aika's concerns were unfounded. The thought of any child suffering under his rule, was… _disheartening_.

"They are only suspicions," Aika whispers, gently taking his hand that was laying on the desk. "And even if they prove true, don't let that dishearten you. You are only one man. You cannot do this alone. It's why you have us, the ninja of the leaf. It is just as much as _our_ responsibility as it is yours to protect our 'King' and each other."

"Thank you, Aika-chan." He smiles, gently patting her hand.

Giving a brief squeeze, she pulls her hand away and sits back once more. "What is it you wanted to discuss?"

"Ah yes," he says, leaning back into his chair and taking a deep draw from his lit pipe. "I wanted to make a suggestion, or rather a request regarding Naruto's training. Being a Uzumaki, I would like you to teach the him the basics of fuinjutsu. The Uzumaki clan has a long history of fuinjutsu masters and it would behoove me to see that Naruto was given the chance to follow the same path."

"I don't know too much about fuinjutsu, but I will do my best." Aika agrees.

Humming in acceptance. Hiruzen continues. "Dog had returned to the orphanage after you left to retrieve Naruto's things. The caretaker had disposed of them and not much was salvageable, which doesn't speak well, so here is some money to get him new things."

Aika looks at his outstretched hand that held money and opens her mouth to protest but Hiruzen raises the other hand to stop her. "It is an apology and a gift to Naruto from me to him. The paper has his sizes and a list of things he likes and things I'd like you to get him. I will send a doctor out to you sometime next week and expect Dog to give you this month's allowance for Naruto."

"I have more than enough money, Hokage-sama. I can-." Aika protests.

Hiruzen raises a hand to stop any further protests. "It is his. As an orphan and more. I know very well you can and will support him financially and more, but it does not mean Naruto does not deserve the money regardless. It is his to do with as he pleases, if that is to help pay for his room and board or simply to buy toys or equipment."

Biting her lip but bowing her head in acceptance, Aika takes the money and list and turns to leave.

"Oh, before I go." Aika says just before she exits the room. "I thought I should extend the same invitation I have to Inoichi not too long ago. I have plenty of guest rooms and you are always welcome to come visit any time. I think Naruto would like that. You can bring your paperwork with you if you must. Please extend the same invitation to Dog."

"Your family home is quite nice," Hiruzen agrees.

Smiling knowingly, Aika bids farewell and leaves to complete her last task.

 *******EPaNL*******

Aika returns home a couple of hours after lunch and pauses in the entry way.

It was quiet, eerily so. A blanket of pain, sadness, anxiousnes and loneliness enveloped her home, making her nervous.

"Naruto?" Aika calls sensing him to be on the second floor in her room.

A slight jolt of fear follows before hope.

"I'm home," she says, making her way up the stairs, her voice cheerful, opposed to the worry she felt. "I have something for you. Hokage-sama wanted me to give you something too."

"What is it?" Naruto asks, a grin on his face, though she could still feel the remnants of his loneliness and pain as he exited her room.

"Well, it's nothing too exciting," Aika replies lifting the half dozen bags in her hands. "Mostly clothes but Hokage-sama had me get you a few things."

"You got me clothes?" Naruto asks. Opening the door to his room.

"Yup," Aika smiles. "Thankfully Hokage-sama told me what size you wear and things you prefer. Do you really like orange?"

"Yeah!" Naruto exclaims, his smile finally reaching his eyes. "Orange is like BAM! In your face! It's so bright and happy and loud!"

Smiling, Aika sits down and sloppily dumps the contents of the bags. "Well, I got you several t-shirts and shorts in an assortment of colors and patterns but mostly orange, white, black and blue with swirls and toads. I also got you a couple of tank tops and capris'. Some underwear and pajamas. An extra pair of shoes, some bathroom supplies and slippers for indoor use."

Naruto looks at the assortment of clothes a little overwhelmed. Aika had gotten him so much, she even got a towel with toads stitched at the edges.

"Hokage-sama also asked me to get you a set of kunai and shuriken, unsharpened for target practice, a calligraphy set and a book he thought you'd like." Aika continues setting each item neatly aside.

"A book?"

"Yes, the main character is named Naruto," she smiles, handing him the book. "Just like you."

"The tale of the utterly gutsy ninja," Naruto reads.

"I've never read it before, so tell me if it's any good okay?"

"Yeah..." Naruto says somewhat dazed. A book with the main character named after him...

"Why don't you put all this away and then come down. You have a test to take!" Aika says a bit gleefully.

Naruto flinches and stares at her in horror. "You were serious?"

"Dead serious," she laughs, the sound of which sounded a bit menacing.

Sweating kunai, Naruto nods fervently and hurriedly grabs his things.

"You have ten minutes." Aika sings, amusement in her voice. "Oh, and Naruto, I'm going to be testing you in your awareness. I'll be putting traps around the house at random and I might take or move your things. So, keep track of what's around you and how you left things, it might save your life."

A shiver crawling down his back, Naruto watches Aika-neechan go and begins to look around the room, taking note of everything. He wasn't sure if she was serious but it was better safe than sorry.

 *******EPaNL*******

As soon as Naruto finished his test, Aika-neechan served dinner, during which he asked what she did while she was in the village. She told him about visiting Yamanaka Flowers and meeting a man named Inoichi who helped her once. She told him about the man's daughter who was his age and about inviting them to visit whenever they wanted, which made Naruto twitch with excitement. Then she told him about visiting the Hokage and gleefully stating the fact she asked him to send a doctor to give him a physical and about extending the same invitation she gave Inoichi to the Hokage, Dog and a man named Kakashi who was a friend of hers. And finally, she complained about the crowds and the lines that were in the shopping district which gave him a sense of petty revenge for the ice water that morning, then he felt guilty about her having to go to such trouble for him. Though the guilt didn't last long when she started cheerfully talking about it all being worth it because even though it was a bit of a pain, she had fun and was a little sad she couldn't buy more.

After she finished talking about her day, she started asking about his. Asking if he explored the yards, took a swim in the outdoor baths, climbed any of the trees in the yard or looked in the library. She asked a lot of questions Naruto was happy to answer, especially when she asked if he was taking a nap in her room when she got back, giving him a readymade excuse. He didn't really want to tell her that after a couple of hours being alone, he started getting lonely and scared that she wouldn't come back so he went into her room to take comfort in what was hers.

When they both finished dinner, Aika-neechan led him into the sitting room to read the book jiji had gotten him while she looked over his test. He was really nervous about it though so it wasn't until she had him read the story out loud that he actually started paying attention to what he was reading. He was so engrossed in the story, he didn't notice Aika-neechan finished looking over his test before he finished the first chapter.

"The book is really off to a great start, don't you think?" Aika-neechan smiles.

"Yeah, I really wonder what'll happen next!" He replies excitedly then begins to fidget with the book as anxiety starts to build. "So, um, how'd I do?"

"A little below average," she shrugs nonchalantly. "But that won't matter in the long run."

"I don't get it."

"The test I gave you was an IQ test, which just tells me where you are academically compared to others your age. Being below average means that you're behind most children your age."

"Oh," Naruto whispers despondently. So, he was _dumb_.

"Don't be disappointed, like I said, these scores won't matter in the long run."

When Naruto looked up, face scrunched in confusion, Aika shifted in her seat to get more comfortable. "A persons IQ score can change over time, especially for children. As long as you study more than your peers and really understand the material, you can raise your score. But this test only evaluates you scholastically, which is important but not as much for ninjas as it is for civilians. As a ninja, you're going to rely more on your physical training then what you learned from a book, as opposed to civilians who have it the other way around."

"So, if it doesn't matter, why did I take it?"

"I didn't say it didn't matter." Aika says warningly. "There are things you need to know as a ninja, to understand. I'll give you some rudimentary lessons in math, literature and other miscellaneous subjects but I'll be really thorough in others. Especially in science, first aid and tactics."

Deflating at the inevitability of his situation, Naruto sighs.

Laughing at his exaggerated reaction, Aika pulls out a paper. "This is what your training schedule is going to look like. We're going to start early with some stretches and running, then we'll eat breakfast and as soon as we're done we'll be going over what we were just discussing. As soon as you finish the day's lesson or an hour before lunch, you'll have a break. Three hours to do whatever you want, during which you better eat your lunch. You can go into the village to play as long as your back for your evening training. Once you get back from your break, you'll have taijutsu training and one of the following; chakra control, target practice, traps or ninjutsu training. It'll be the same Monday through Thursday. Friday will almost be the same, except instead of lessons, you'll be taking a test over what has been covered and instead of that extra physical training, we'll be sparring. Depending on how you do, you can either get one or two days to spend however you want except for your morning stretching and running and your evening taijutsu."

That seemed like a lot to do but... Aika-neechan would be with him the entire time and he'd get a break everyday...

"Okay!" Naruto nods resolutely. "I can do it!"

"I know you can," Aika-neechan agrees. "Oh, and remember what I told you about your awareness. I really will be testing you every day Naruto. I'm giving you a one week warning before I start setting up traps and taking your things."

"What?! Aika-neechan!"

"I might even draw on your face with permanent marker or paint your nails. I'm not going to hold back." She smiles mischievously. "If you're too slow to learn, I'll have to get _really_ creative."

He wasn't sure what she meant exactly, but he had a feeling he was going to find out.

* * *

 **A/N: This is the last update I'll be doing today. Depending on the circumstances, you can expect an update next weekend or the weekend after that. As stated before, don't wait with baited breath for another binge update in a single day. Sorry, I just figured if I was going to get anyone to actually read this, I should probably put enough out there that you actually have something to sink your teeth into, you know? And that teeny little eight hundred something chapter one probably wouldn't do it. Please review and let me know what you think.**


	6. Chapter 6 House Call

**Empath, Prankster and Ninja Lessons**

 **Chapter Six House Call**

* * *

A little over a week later, during their morning lessons, someone knocked on the door.

"Naruto, would you get that?" Aika-neechan says sweetly, suppressing her urge to giggle.

He never thought he would actually _want_ to continue a lesson rather than using company as an excuse to stop.

Pouting, Naruto stands, sticking his tongue out at Aika-neechan who succumbed to her desire to laugh and leaves the family room to answer the door. "Yeah?" He asks grumpily.

A brief silence follows his less then polite greeting before a man with silver hair, a mask and an orange book in front of his face answers. "Ah, Aika asked us to come."

"Oni-sensei (demon/ogre teacher)! It's for you!" Naruto yells.

Laughter could be heard before the lady of the house reveals herself. "Now, don't be such a sore loser, raccoon-chan. I warned you something like this would happen."

Huffing, Naruto opens the door wider before stepping aside.

"Kakashi! Is this the doctor?" Aika says between giggles.

"Just as you've asked." Kakashi confirms, noting said medics conflicting expressions. It appears as if the medic wasn't sure whether to be irritated or to laugh.

"Excellent! Just as promised Naruto, a medic has come to give you a physical!"

"Can this day get any worse?" Naruto mumbles, still in full pout mode. "I wake up with rings around my eyes and a black nose and now I have to have a physical?"

"Stop pouting and lead the medic into the sitting room," Aika says, nudging him forward.

"FINE! But if he pulls out a needle, you'll have to catch me first!" Naruto shouts.

"You wouldn't get far~!" Aika sings, tugging Kakashi through the door.

"An interesting fashion choice Naruto has taken to," Kakashi comments, removing his shoes and declining the guest slippers, bare feet had better traction then slippers.

"Awareness training," Aika answers the implied question, leading Kakashi into the sitting room and sitting a little way away from where the medic and Naruto were already beginning.

"Isn't he a little young for that? It's not like he needs it yet."

Aika raises a brow challengingly at Kakashi's statement and Kakashi sighs. "No one would go that far, even blind as they are."

"You can't be sure and I would rather he be safe than sorry." Aika says firmly. She didn't want to think the people of the village would harm a child, but that's the thing, not everyone saw Naruto as _Naruto_ , as a _boy_. Some of them saw him as a demon, as the kyuubi no kitsune, and that may be enough to drive them to violence. "And besides, children are more adaptable. And it isn't like I'm using lethal means to teach him. He's a little embarrassed, which will motivate him to do better but I'm not hurting anything but his pride."

Kakashi shrugs and raises his ever-present book to his face.

"The moment Naruto asks about that book, I better not see you reading it around him until he's at least fourteen or. It. Will. _Burn_." Aika whispers, smile in place.

Lowering his treasured book, Kakashi looks at her from the side of his eye, noting her clenched hands and tensed jaw. Thinking a moment, Kakashi performs a henge that disguises his book to a more innocent variety on the outside before raising it back in front of his face.

Smiling much more pleasantly, Aika stands. "I'm going to bring some tea and snacks. I'll be right back."

Giving her a casual thumb up, Kakashi continues to read.

It seems as though Naruto was doing her good, it had been years since he'd seen her threaten someone. And now he knew what Asuma felt when she threatened him about Kurenai.

 *******EPaNL*******

"So, how is he?" Aika asks as soon as the medic finished.

"He's fine," the medic sighs. "There isn't even a single scar on his body. He's a little malnourished, but with a proper and well balanced diet that should be fixed within a month."

"Well that's a relief," Aika sighs.

"The Hokage would like your report by the end of the day." Kakashi adds casually.

"Right, well I'll be going." The medic waves, stopping a moment to turn to Aika. "Inoichi-sama has been asking for you."

With that said, the medic leaves.

"Staying Kakashi?" Aika asks after a moment.

"It's quiet here," he replies, continuing his reading.

"Well, you're welcome to stay as long as you like."

"So, what now?" Naruto asks, lying flat on the floor looking up at the ceiling.

"Now we go back to your lesson," Aika replies, pulling the limp body of the boy into a seated position.

Naruto groans in protest, flopping back onto the floor and refusing to move even as Aika begins to drag him back to the formal room where his lessons usually take place.

"Is he usually this motivated?" Kakashi asks.

"Naruto just doesn't like to study," Aika shrugs.

"Too. Many. **Words**!" Naruto groans exaggeratedly.

"But once it's time for his physical training, he's practically jumping off the walls." Aika laughs. "He'll get a little impatient from time to time but he likes it a lot more than studying."

"I see," Kakashi says.

"Who're you anyway, old man?" Naruto asks, head back to look up at him.

Aika snickers and Kakashi bristles.

"I'm not old," Kakashi states firmly. "I'm the same age as Aika."

"That's still ol-"

"Naruto, a lot worse can happen than having a black nose and rings around your eyes." Aika interrupts.

A dead silence follows as Naruto is dumped unceremoniously back onto the floor in the formal sitting room.

"Let's continue your lesson and you can spend your break interrogating Kakashi." Aika says, resuming her seat. "Maybe you can convince Kakashi to train you this afternoon. He's one of the best."

That perked Naruto up. Sitting up in a hurry, Naruto takes his seat and opens his text on anatomy.

* * *

 **A/N: So, here's the next update. I would really appreciate any feed back. Hope you even cracked a smile at the fluffiness.**


	7. Chapter 7 Misconstrued Facts

**Empath, Prankster and Ninja Lessons**

 **Chalet Seven Misconstrued Facts**

* * *

"So, Aika-neechan says your one of the best," Naruto says over lunch. "What do you specialize in?"

Kakashi raises a brow in surprise. Being called a ninja was a general term and often misconstrued as being 'in your face ass kickers' with flashy jutsu by the general populace. Even most of the children who enter the academy hold that visual as the truth, even as an ideal. It was a bit disillusioning to know that there are ninja dedicated to cracking codes, battle defense or jutsu research. "I'm an ninjutsu specialist. I also specialize in tracking and assassination."

"Really!" Naruto exclaims excitedly. "That's so cool! Hey, can you teach me a ninjutsu?"

"Ah, have you learned the kawarimi, henge and bunshin no jutsu?" Kakashi asks. He doubted it. After all Naruto had only been training a little over a week.

"No," Naruto pouts, poking at his carrots with his chopsticks. "I almost got the henge but I haven't got to the other ones yet."

A little over a week and he was close to performing the henge?

Kakashi stares at his sensei's son, wondering if perhaps he took after his father and was actually a genius.

"Don't pester Kakashi over ninjutsu Naruto," Aika scolds. "As soon as you learn those three other jutsu we'll branch out a little more. Focus on taijutsu first."

"What kind of style are you teaching him?" Kakashi asks Aika.

"I'm not teaching him any style, just the academy katas." She replies.

"Huh? What are you guys talking about?" Naruto asks. He was under the impression what Aika-neechan was teaching him _was_ a style of taijutsu.

"The katas I've been drilling you on are the bare bones of a lot of common taijutsu styles. They're designed to teach you the basics so if you branch out into taijutsu, you have a pretty firm foundation to work off." Aika answers.

"Different styles of taijutsu work better in different kinds of situations and people." Kakashi elaborates. "I specialize in ninjutsu, tracking and assassination so my style of taijutsu centers around instant kills and immobilization. Aika was an infiltration specialist as well as an interrogator and sensor, her taijutsu style focuses on immobilization. She's also trained herself in a way that it isn't easily discernable whether or not she's been trained as a ninja. Most medics are trained in evasion."

"So, you won't teach me a taijutsu style 'cause it depends on what you're good at?" Naruto says after a moment.

"That's simplifying it but yes," Aika replies. "And before you say you want to specialize in ninjutsu or something, I want you to wait. Your five years old Naruto, you haven't had a chance to try everything yet. Finding your strengths and weakness and building yourself up is what those years in the academy and as a genin are for. You're going to do and try a lot of things in the next several years, take your time and decide when you're sure."

Naruto frowns and sticks the carrot he was playing with in his mouth contemplatively. "I still think I want to specialize in ninjutsu but... Okay Aika-neechan, I'll wait."

As soon as they finished eating, Aika collects the dishes, waving away Naruto when he started to help and tells him to take his time to talk to Kakashi. "Ask him for advice or some stories about his time as a jonin. Take advantage of having an experienced ninja available to you. Kakashi has been a ninja for fifteen or so years. Plus, he should have something to give you from Hakage-sama." Aika says, leaving then to drink their tea as she goes to wash the dishes.

Neither male moved for several seconds after she left then Naruto jumps up and rushes to the door where he watches her make her way across the yard to the kitchen. As soon as the kitchen door closes, Naruto rushes back to the table where Kakashi watched curiously.

"So, you're a ninja." Naruto states.

When Naruto failed to continue Kakashi nods.

"And your one of the best?"

Again, Kakashi nods, curious about where Naruto was going with this.

"How good are you at setting traps?"

Now that was a question Kakashi wasn't expecting. "It's not my specialty but I can spot and disarm most."

"Good enough!" Naruto says loudly, slapping his hands against the table then looks around suspiciously before getting closer and begins you whisper. "This morning Aika-neechan told me that I can attack her or set up traps for her wherever I want as long as I don't break anything that can't be fixed after. I need help to set up a trap for her since I haven't learned much yet."

"So... You're asking me for help?"

"She drew on my face with permanent marker." Naruto deadpans before standing and declaring "I will have my _revenge_!"

"What makes you think I won't just give you advice and then warn her?" Kakashi asks, taking a sip of his tea and a bite of a rice cracker while the excitable boy was distracted.

Kakashi's very valid question brings Naruto up short, freezing him mid-pose before yelling in frustration and musing his hair violently. "I haven't even done anything yet and I already messed up!"

Kakashi takes another bite of the cracker before gesturing Naruto to calm down and sit. "Mah, don't worry about it. I won't tell her. Aika can take care of herself."

"Really?" Naruto asks suspiciously.

"Sure, Aika was also pretty good at sabotage and traps, I don't need to warn her." Kakashi shrugs. "I'll help you out too while I'm here."

A gleam in his eye and a brief cackle later, Naruto leans forward to listen closely to what Kakashi had to say.

His allowance from old man Hokage forgotten until just before Kakashi leaves several hours later.

* * *

 **A/N: I had to do this from my phone, so cross your fingers. I like details. Details are oh so important to me. Things have to make sense and there has to be a natural progression in things. Some things you can skip, god knows I've done that more times then would be advisable or normal but Naruto has always seemed more like a character who fought and clawed hard to be what he eventually came to be. There was no genius potential, just sheer determination and grit. And I like that about him, which is why this training is pretty slow, lots of exposition. Sorry, but I like it that way. But feel free to let me know how you feel. I take all manner of opinions into consideration so long as they're explained.**


	8. Chapter 8 Meeting Yamanaka's

**Empath, Prankster and Ninja Lessons**

 **Chapter Eight Meeting Yamanaka's**

* * *

Several days later, Inoichi makes his way to the front door of the Shiragiku residence with his daughter Ino and her friend Sakura.

"This house is huge!" Ino exclaims, looking around, eyes wide and mouth open.

Sakura does much the same though more anxious than awed.

Inoichi had to agree, the Shiragiku residence was one of the largest properties in Konoha along with the main households of the Uchiha and Hyuuga clans.

"Now, while we're here, I want you both to be on your best behavior." Inoichi says sternly before raising his hand to knock.

From inside he heard a shout of surprise that made him tense and his mind reel at the possibility of an enemy assassin before he heard a cackle of glee.

"You jumped the kunai Naruto," he heard Aika say. "You need to be more patient and think out your plans more before acting."

"You never said anything about penalties!"

"I never said otherwise either." Aika laughs, her voice just now closer to the front door. "There are consequences to failure." She says, finally opening the door. "You have twenty minutes to escape and then I'm going to start _plucking_." She sings, head turned towards the inside of the house before looking at her guests.

"You're **EVIL**!"

"Inoichi! I'm so glad you've come to visit!" Aika smiles, amusement and sadistic glee in her tone.

Inoichi stares for a second before putting his face into his hand and shaking his head, his urge to laugh making him twitch.

"You didn't come to see me last week." He says after calming down a bit.

"Oh, _right_." Aika replies guiltily, looking away.

"I saw Kakashi yesterday and he told me the medic you asked for reminded you."

Aika bites her lip, still refusing to look at him then looks down. "Oh! Is that your daughter? Ino, right?"

Jumping a bit in surprise, Ino nods hesitantly, a little unsure about what she heard just before the door was answered.

"Is this your friend?" Aika asks, making Sakura curl into herself a bit and hide behind Ino.

"Yeah, her name's Sakura." Ino replies.

" _Aika_ ," Inoichi says sternly.

Aika looks up and huffs, "Fine, we can talk inside. Let me just untie Naruto."

Aika leaves the entrance open and Inoichi quickly but casually removes his shoes to follow her.

The girls quickly follow his example and they enter the sitting room to see a blond haired, blue eyed boy dangling from the ceiling, his arms bound to his side by the same rope suspending him.

"Don't just laugh! I thought you were going to let me down!" The boy yells indignantly, wiggling around like bait on a hook.

Aika was in front of him, shaking from her laughter. "I don't know Naruto, it's kind of funny to see you hanging like an ornament. Maybe I'll leave you like this awhile."

"Aika-neechan!"

Laughing aloud, Aika pokes the boy in the forehead, making him swing a bit. "Alright, _alright_. I'll let you down this once because we have company. But don't expect the same to happen next time. You need to know how to escape captivity, just as much as you need to know how to bind someone."

With that said, Aika steps behind him, makes two firm tugs and Naruto is promptly dropped. Though instead of just falling on his face, Naruto rolls then stands in almost one seamless move.

"Why don't you show these girls around and play Naruto?" Aika nudges. "But you'll have to lead them through the traps so be extra careful."

"'Kay!" Naruto says grumpily, walking towards the game room. "Follow me."

"Should I be concerned?" Inoichi asks as soon as the children leave.

"No, all of the traps are non-lethal and they shouldn't get so much as a bruise as long as they're careful." Aika says, leading Inoichi into the formal room. "They're fairly easy to spot as long as you're paying attention."

Trusting her judgement, Inoichi takes a seat at the opposite side of the table. "So, how have you been since I last saw you?" He asks, getting straight to the business at hand.

 *******EPaNL*******

"Hey, is that lady really your sister?" Ino whispers, looking over her shoulder cautiously to make sure they were really alone.

"Aika-neechan? No, she's my Sensei. I just like to call her that." Naruto replies distractedly, giving his surroundings a cursory glance. "Be careful here, there's a trip wire."

"What's with all these traps?" Ino huffs in annoyance.

"Aika-neechan puts them around the house and yard to test my awareness." Naruto shrugs. "This is the game room. There aren't very many games, just shogi and stuff."

The girls look around the large room with shelves full of game boards and other game accessories and a long table with cushions before following Naruto once more.

"Why were you tied up?" Sakura asks shyly.

Naruto blushes and scratches at his chin nervously. "Well, I tried to ambush Aika-neechan and-"

"You attacked your teacher?" Ino exclaims, horrified.

"Well, I _tried_ ," Naruto pouts. His self-imposed mission to get revenge on his Aika-neechan has thus far been filled with only failure. But he would succeed, he promised himself. Excitement and determination brimming.

"Why?" Sakura asks, just as surprised and horrified as her friend, momentarily forgetting her shyness.

"Aika-neechan said it'll teach me stealth, planning, judgement and execution." Naruto answers, his words sounding a bit rehearsed. Well, that _was_ the official reason. "So yeah, I tried to ambush Aika-neechan but she dodged and I got caught in one of her traps. This is the dojo and out here is the training ground."

Again, the girls gave distracted looks around the room, vaguely noticing the hard wood floor as opposed to the tatami mats that filled what they've seen so far of the manor, a door at one end of the room, shelves with a couple display swords and other various weapon and a closet. Outside, in the training ground, there was a wide-open area with training posts at one end, a small bunch of trees and a small pond.

"Why are you doing all that? It seems kind of troublesome." Ino asks, flinching as her words remind her of that lazy bum Shikamaru.

"I'm going to become Hokage, that's why!" Naruto proclaims, grinning widely.

"Hokage?" Sakura asks. "Isn't he the strongest person in the village?"

"Not only that, he's also the most respected!" Naruto says excitedly. "Don't step on the spaces between the tatami mats. This is the tea room." He says in a more subdued manner. "That room we walked through before is the dining room and I'll show you the sitting room."

The dining room wasn't much to look at, just another long table and some simple and pleasing decorations. The tea room didn't even have a table, just shelves and drawers on one wall and a sunken hearth.

"A Hokage is also responsible for protecting everyone in the village." Naruto grins once more. "I don't have a family, but when I become Hokage, everyone will be my family. So, I need to get strong so I can protect everyone. Even the really stubborn and dumb grownups."

"You don't have a family?" Sakura whispers anxiously.

Naruto leads them into the sitting room and shrugs, a little uncomfortable and a little sad. "I'm an orphan and before I met Aika-neechan, my only precious person was jiji. But Aika-neechan has been teaching me a lot and she told me that even if people hate me now, once I show then who I am, things will change and that will be the first step to becoming Hokage!"

"Why would people hate you?" Ino huffs. "You're just a kid."

"I don't know," Naruto shrugs again. "But people always seem angry at me and blame me for everything."

The two girls look at each other in confusion and Ino opens her mouth to ask more but Naruto interrupts.

"It's really big here. Upstairs are all the bedrooms and baths. There's the formal room but I saw Aika-neechan go in there. There's the library, storage building, the kitchen and laundry building, green house, outdoor baths, bathrooms and gardens." Naruto lists, head cocked and arms crossed to make sure he remembered everything. "Is there anything you want to see? Do you want to play a game?" He asks after he's sure he didn't miss anything.

"There's a green house?" Ino asks, while Sakura wanted to ask about the library.

"Yeah, you wanna see?" Naruto asks nervously. Now that he wasn't moping about getting caught in a trap or talking about being Hokage or how people seemed to hate him, he realized that this was the first time he's really talked with kids his age. Sometimes, he used to be able to get the other kids to play with him but it didn't last long. Their parents always called them back and told them to stay away from him. But the grownup that came with them didn't say anything about him talking to them, so this was a first. "Uh, what's your guy's name by the way?"

Ino huffs and places her hands on her hips saucily. "It's about time you asked, I'm Yamanaka Ino. The old guy who was with us is my dad Inoichi."

"I'm Haruno Sakura," Sakura introduces, hands clenched in front of her.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage! Nice to meet you!" He laughs, grinning widely.

For the next hour, Naruto showed Ino and Sakura the green house, library and gardens before they had lunch. They left right afterwards but Inoichi promised to stop by again the following week with the girls. Aika-neechan and he walked them out and said their goodbyes then returned to the house to resume their training.

"So, did you have fun with Ino and Sakura?" Aika-neechan asks over dinner.

"Yeah! Ino can be bossy and Sakura is real shy but it was lots of fun!"

"Well, they'll be stopping by next week and I can show you where Inoichi lives so you can visit Ino next time we go into the village."

"Really Aika-neechan? You're the best!"

"I thought I was a _demon_?" Aika-neechan says teasingly before she laughs.

"That too!" Naruto exclaims matter of resolutely, earning him a teasing slap to the back of the head.

* * *

 **A/N: So here's another one. I haven't gotten a hold of a computer or laptop recently so if that doesn't change soon, the updates will be every two weeks instead of every week. I'd also like for you to know that I've been putting the chapter title and a brief, like _really brief,_ summary of the title on the bottom of my profile. **

**You all might be reading this chapter and wondering about the plucking and before about the face drawing, I have to wonder if I was the only one who tormented younger cousins (or siblings) with this method? I mean, I never used permanent marker, instead in me and my cousins boys versus girls war we used makeup and took pictures, but that wouldn't be as lasting so I went with marker. Some of the stuff I'll be putting here will have some exaggerated parallels to my own childhood, but I'd actually like to know anything funny or cute from your own (if your willing to share) and I might use it in my story. It may give me some inspiration.**

Thank you for reading and please review!


	9. Chapter 9 Ninja Lesson: Infiltration

**Empath, Prankster and Ninja Lessons**

 **Chapter Nine Ninja Lesson: Infiltration**

* * *

It was a little over a month and a half since Aika-neechan started training him when he had his first big success. The transformation jutsu. During that time, Inoichi visited once a week, every other week bringing Ino and Sakura, Kakashi visited twice, Jiji and Dog once and Naruto met a green spandex wearing weirdo names Gai and a lady named Kurenai.

He was so focused on his training and making plans to ambush or trap Aika-neechan that he didn't noticed that he hadn't left the Shiragiku residence since he first came there until Aika-neechan brought it up.

"Wow Naruto!" Aika-neechan claps, a heartfelt smile on your face. "You performed the transformation jutsu! I'm so proud of you!"

Naruto, currently transformed into Aika-neechan, blushed shyly and rubbing the back of his head. "Thanks, Aika-neechan, but it took forever to get it right!"

"Your five and three quarters Naruto," Aika-neechan scolds gently. "Performing any jutsu at that age, with less than two months of training is amazing. You should be proud."

Naruto unconsciously sticks his chest out proudly, a large grin on his face.

Aika-neechan frowns minutely and circles Naruto. "You really did do a fantastic job Naruto. You look exactly like me. But, you know, a transformation jutsu is useless unless you can _act_ like who your disguised _as_. Even if you're just changing your gender, you need to act like what you look."

Naruto thinks on this a moment and tries to stand how Aika-neechan would stand; straight but relaxed, elegant but casual. It was a lot harder then he thought. He even went into the bathroom to look in the mirror as he tried to fix his posture but it still looked _off_ somehow.

"You're not going to get it right away Naruto. It'll take some practice." Aika-neechan says from the door, a contemplative look on her face. "Tomorrow you have the day off... Do you want to head into the village? You haven't gone down since you got here."

"Huh?"

"Well, I was thinking. The best way to learn is practice and from the beginning." She elaborates. "How about tomorrow we visit the Yamanaka's? You can transform into a girl and ask Ino for some help. Acting like the opposite gender is usually harder to do then acting like someone else of the same sex. You can watch how other women or girls act and mimic them."

Over the past month and a half Naruto has met Ino and consequently Sakura a grand total of four times. They seemed to get along alright. They were a little weird, being girls and all but they were nice enough. Ino may be a little bossy and out spoken but she wasn't mean about it, and most times she would listen to what he said, though those instances were when he pointed out traps or talked about some medicinal or poisonous plant he learned about. Sakura was still a little shy, but she was really starting to come out of her shell, or at least around him and Ino. She was a real book worm, much to Naruto's disbelief and gratitude, if he was stuck on something as far as his studies she helped him out and explained things to him. He wasn't sure if they were friends, no verbal acknowledgement was made, but he'd like to think they were.

So, Naruto agrees to the training outing the following day and resumed their training.

The next day, Naruto rolls off the bed, away from Aika-neechan who had just entered and sits up with a yawn.

"You're getting better Naruto." Aika-neechan smiles, tapping her shoulder with a large paper fan she used to slap him awake occasionally.

Naruto grunts and goes into his bathroom, keeping half his attention on Aika-neechan and the other half where he was stepping.

Mornings were usually when he fell into some kind of trap. He was still half asleep and mostly focused on Aika-neechan who was rather intimidating once you got to know her.

Thankfully, no such trap was sprung that morning and Naruto got ready in peace.

"Here Naruto, change into these." Aika-neechan says, handing him a blouse and capris.

"Those are girl clothes." Naruto says simply. He was a little slow in the morning.

"They're some of my old clothes." She agrees. "You just got a handle on the transformation jutsu. Today you're going to be holding it for several hours so I want you to focus mostly on your physical change not the clothes you'll be wearing. Change into a girl your age, think Ino with Sakura's eyes, Kurenai's hair and my face."

It was a tall order and it took him several tries but he succeeded and was now a six-year-old girl with green eyes, long lashes, wavy hair just past her shoulders and a soft heart shaped face with cupid bow lips.

"Good, now hold that as long as you can." Aika-neechan says, sitting Naruto onto the toilet seat to do his hair. "I'm going to talk to Inoichi when we first get there but if you start to feel drained come find me right away and you can drop the jutsu. I'll be carrying a set of your clothes just in case. This will test your limits as well as being a learning experience for you so try your best okay? But don't be afraid to tell me you can't keep it up, if you push yourself too hard you can end up hurting yourself, alright?"

"Yes, Aika-neechan." Naruto smiles. It always warmed his heart to hear how concerned she was for his wellbeing.

"Done," Aika-neechan says, patting him on his shoulder.

Naruto stands to look at himself. In addition to his transformation into a green eyed black haired girl, Naruto was now wearing an orange red short sleeved blouse, sleeves puffy and a smallish bow tied at his collar. He was also wearing some tan capris' and had his hair tied up in a high ponytail with a ribbon the color of his blouse tied in a bow and strands that were pulled loose at the sides of his face.

"This is so weird." Naruto mumbles.

Aika-neechan laughs. "I know, but you get used to it. Think of it as a prank. If your good enough, your tricking everyone into thinking you're a girl. You can even pick a name to go with this transformation, it'll be like an infiltration mission."

Naruto grins widely at the thought and spends breakfast and the time it took to reach the village going through cover stories for his new transformation. "So, my name's now Kiku. I'm your cousin who came to visit and maybe become a ninja like you. My family are merchants and my favorite food is moon cakes!"

Aika-neechan laughs and asks whether or not he wanted to let Ino and Sakura in on his 'prank'. Naruto thought deeply on the matter and couldn't quite decide. On one hand Naruto was just beginning to learn how to act like a girl, if Ino and Sakura knew Kiku was actually _him_ , they can help him out and maybe cover for him. It was the smart decision, but it was also kind of embarrassing being a girl and Naruto also wanted to see how far he could go on his own. Ino was also a bit of a big mouth if his time listening to her blab about the other girls and the other clan children was anything to go by. Who's to say she'd keep this a secret?

"Hmmm, I don't know neechan," Naruto says after thinking on it. "What do you think?"

"Having a contact to vouch for you on infiltration missions are very helpful." Aika-neechan replies. "There is the danger of them turning on you but a good contact will warn you when your cover is blown, help smooth the way for you to collect information and just generally watch your back. But before you place your life in their hands you need to decide if they're trustworthy and why they are helping you. You shouldn't trust someone who is 'doing it out of the kindness of their own hearts'. Being a contact for a spy can be treasonous depending on their situation. Having a more substantial reason for doing what they are doing, like monetary gain or they're rebels of the state, is a lot more reassuring."

"Well, Sakura had told me how Ino stood up for her and how she's been helping her so I think she's trustworthy." Naruto says after a moment. "So, all I need is to give her a reason to keep this a secret, right?"

"To be safe, yes." Aika agrees. This was a little extreme for a five year olds training but it was better to cultivate these sorts of skills in a safe environment so that even if Naruto gets caught he's not immediately killed or taken in for interrogation. "You need to be careful about what you give her though. Say you had Inoichi order his daughter to help you, well you wouldn't have to give her anything but she might resent you for doing it and might rebel and out you _regardless_. If you set a price and she raises it to extremes and you pay, she'll take advantage and is liable to think you're a pushover. Which could lead to her outing you as soon as it's too much trouble or she's gotten what she's wanted. If you give her too little, there isn't much reason to protect you in the first place. The key is balance, not too much and not too little. You also need to determine if fear or kindness is the way to go. To succeed in this field, you have to be really good at reading people and situations."

Naruto listened intently and frowns. This was a lot more complicated then he thought.

"Now Naruto, keep in mind that these are hypothetical situations. Maybe Ino will help you for nothing. She's not risking anything by helping. I just want you to keep that in mind for the future if infiltration is the way you want to go."

"Okay Aika-neechan." Naruto agrees and decides to just feel out the situation as best he can.

They soon arrive at the flower shop that was owned and operated by the Yamanaka clan. It was a fairly large building that had a nursery and a greenhouse that grew medical herbs and poisons for the ninja forces. In the past, the shop was run by clan members but Inoichi took it upon himself, and later his wife, to run it. Which was why the Yamanaka clan head could normally be found here.

"Welcome to Yamanaka flowers, how may I help you today?" A gentle voice greets.

They turn to see a woman of Inoichi's age with brown eyes and brown hair swept up in a high bun wearing a high collared long sleeved dress.

"Yamanaka-san," Aika-neechan greets politely. "Is your husband and daughter here today?"

"Shiragiku-san, it's always a pleasure to see you." Yamanaka Haru smiles. "Inoichi is in the back teaching Ino and Sakura-chan about common poisonous plants and how to extract them for weapon use. He was quite inspired to teach them after he first went to see you. May I ask who you have with you?"

Aika nudges Naruto to greet himself.

Naruto momentarily panics, unsure how to introduce himself but grits his teeth and bows with his hands clasped in front of him, as girlish as possible. "H-hello, my name is Shiragiku Kiku. I'm visiting my cousin Aika-neechan."

Haru could see the discrepancies in Naruto's actions and words and quickly comes to the correct conclusion but smiles regardless. It was good for the children to be taught as early and thoroughly as possible. "Tuck your elbows into your side, straighten your back a bit and close your legs."

Naruto looks up a little shocked and stares.

"The Shiragiku family are old and wealthy. Even the smallest of them are taught proper decorum. A proper bow for a young lady is done like this." Haru says, performing a proper bow. "Their education carries into how they walk, talk and carry themselves. Your young enough that not many would see through your disguise but you should keep this in mind."

Naruto dazedly nods.

"I'll go retrieve Inoichi, Ino and Sakura-chan." Haru smiles before taking her leave.

"Close your mouth, Kiku." Aika scolds softly tapping Naruto's chin. "I hope you were listening because what Yamanaka-san said was true."

Naruto looks up at Aika then nods determined before consciously fixing his posture like Yamanaka-san told him.

Haru came back with Inoichi and the girls as promised and introduced Naruto as Kiku to them, inconspicuously letting her husband know what was going on through key words and her body language.

"Would you like me to ask Ino and Sakura-chan to help you Kiku-chan?" Haru asks.

Naruto was about to agree then remembered what Aika-neechan said about resentment. "No, that's alr- I mean, no thank you. I'll- I will ask them myself. Is there somewhere we can talk in private?" Naruto asks, carefully choosing his words. He had noticed Aika-neechan had spoken politely with Yamanaka-san as opposed to her more casual way of speaking. So, he guessed, from what he knew of Aika-neechan and what Yamanaka-san told him, that she was very polite and courteous when talking to a stranger. He wasn't sure at first but given the approving looks he received from both woman he was sure he guessed right.

"Of course, why don't you follow me?" Haru says and leads the children away. Both Ino and Sakura were clearly confused but followed the Yamanaka lady.

"Was that who I think that was?" Inoichi asks, watching them go.

"Yup," Aika smiles proudly.

"His transformation is quite good." Inoichi says, clearly impressed.

Naruto's transformation jutsu was unusual. Whereas the usual transformation jutsu was of a genjutsu variation, Naruto's was much closer to a ninjutsu than anything else. Naruto literally transformed. She had taught him the proper seals and technique to do the standard transformation jutsu but he had struggled to replicate it. Every break he had in training, he dedicated to learning the transformation jutsu. She had noticed the changes he made and under normal circumstances would have corrected him, but it seemed to work. He had to tweak it over the last month and a half to get his current result but now Naruto had made his own version of the transformation jutsu, a better one.

"It is," Aika agrees, deciding to not mention the differences in Naruto's technique to anyone but the Third Hokage. "Now he just needs to further the technique through acting."

She smiles sweetly and proudly in the direction Yamanaka-san had taken Naruto and the girls and turns toward Inoichi. "Shall we get on with our session?"

 *******EPaNL*******

"So~," Ino says, stretching the word as soon as Naruto finishes explaining the situation. "You need help in acting like a girl..."

"Yeah- I mean yes please." Naruto says, trying to stop himself from fidgeting in his seat and keep his legs closer together. "In exchange for your help and secrecy I'm willing to do something for you as well."

It was hard to talk differently than what he was used to and because he wasn't used to it he spoke slowly and carefully. It made his words seen to drag on but he figured once he got used to it, that would change.

Ino and Sakura exchange looks and give Naruto's transformation a once over.

Teach a boy to act like a girl? _Definitely_ weird but...

"Sounds like fun." Ino says mischievously.

Sakura nods affirmatively and smiles.

"And your price?" Naruto asks, ignoring the looks in their faces. They couldn't be any worse than Aika-neechan.

"Don't worry about it," Ino waves away nonchalantly. "We're friends, aren't we?"

"Yeah Naruto, friends are supposed to help each other." Sakura agrees before blushing in embarrassment. "I mean Kiku."

He had considered them his friends, but hearing a verbal confirmation of it brought a wide smile to his face and made him rub the back of his head shyly.

"Stop that," Ino snaps, slapping Naruto's hand way from his head. "You said you have to act politely and elegantly as Shiragiku Kiku right? So, you have to be careful with your hair and be subtler with your emotions."

Sakura and Ino begin to fuss over Naruto, how he sat, fixing his hair and clothes and even his expression. Naruto complied, following they're directions to the best of his ability.

Once they were satisfied the girls smile down at him. It was like having their own real life doll.

"Um, I would still like to repay you two for this somehow," Naruto shyly says after a moment.

"Well, maybe we can help each other," Sakura suggests. "You're going to attend the academy with us this year aren't you Nar- Kiku? Well, we'll help you with this kind of stuff and you can help us with taijutsu and traps."

"Great idea Sakura!" Ino exclaims. "We'll work out the details some other time. Let's get started with your lessons in womanhood."

"Okay," Naruto agrees.

* * *

 **A/N: So, this is early by like a _week_ , lol, but today is my birthday and I now have access to a touch pad I can use to write and update this story with! Yay! Plus I decided to make the chapters _look_ nicer by putting the story and chapter title at the top, so yeah.**

 **Naruto's transformation jutsu being more _ninjutsu_ than _genjutsu_ is kind of cliché but it makes sense to me. Transformation, substitution and a clone jutsu are the academy three. In the academy there are civilians who have small chakra capacities (Sakura for example). If these civilian children are expected and succeed in preforming these jutsu, when Naruto can't even make a decent _illusionsry_ _clone_ but can create a chakra intensive _shadow clone_ which is _solid;_ by my logic, that means that the transformation jutsu is a genjutsu, which takes little chakra to preform, and that the transformation jutsu _Naruto_ preforms in cannon is solid and a _ninjutsu._ Cliché butit makes sense.**

 **Saturday I still plan on putting up another chapter, so no worries.**

 **Please review, like or follow. It's nice to know people are really reading this. ;)**


	10. Chapter 10 First Day

**Empath, Prankster and Ninja Lessons**

 **Chapter Ten First Day**

* * *

It's been several months now since Naruto started being trained by Aika and now Naruto was ready to make his first official step to becoming a ninja. He was going to enter the academy.

He feels as though he was waiting for this day all his life and he was so excited he hardly slept the night before.

"Naruto, make sure you pay attention to what they're teaching you. Be aware of your surroundings, try your best and make friends." Aika-neechan says, leading him to the academy hand in hand. "And you better eat your vegetables Naruto or there will be hell to pay."

"Okay Aika-neechan!" Naruto grins, only listening with half an ear.

Aika-neechan sighs exasperatedly before smiling. "Have fun Naruto."

Naruto looks up into her face, seeing the worry and the hope, even some pride and excitement. He saw all that and he couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if he never met Aika-neechan. People in the village still looked at him hatefully, sometimes even in fear. Most parents still warned their kids to stay away from him. He still didn't go into shops to avoid being kicked out and the pain of rejection. It still hurt that people he didn't even know looked at him so hatefully and treated him badly but... Coming home to Aika-neechan, who was smart strong kind and strict was a balm. He wasn't sure it would ever stop hurting to be rejected, not so long as he didn't understand why, but it hurt a lot less when he knew he had people who cared.

"Don't worry Aika-neechan! I'll make you proud!" Naruto proclaims.

"Dummy, I'm already proud of you." Aika-neechan laughs before waving goodbye. "I'll be picking you up after school okay?"

Naruto waves goodbye frantically until he couldn't see her anymore and then turns to face the academy. A ball of anxiety forms at the pit of his stomach. It's been awhile since he's been alone in the village without someone he knew. Not since he met Aika-neechan and that made him a little nervous.

Hands shaking and swallowing hard Naruto takes his first step forward and is promptly pushed down.

Landing face first into the ground, Naruto growls and turns toward his assailant to see Ino with her hands out stretched and Sakura next to her.

"I'm telling Aika-neechan you let your guard down and didn't fall properly," Ino taunts with a laugh.

Sakura giggles into her hand and Naruto blushes.

"Wa-wait! I call do over! I wasn't ready!" Naruto yells, getting up in a hurry.

"There are no do overs in battle Naruto." Sakura scolds mockingly.

"Come on guys! I wasn't ready! Please don't tell neechan! I don't think I could escape fast enough to save my eyebrows!" He pleads. The penalty for being unaware was to be bound and plucked until he makes his escape. He could escape from most knots and binds now but the more complicated ones he still struggled with. And it was those knots and binds Aika-neechan had been using lately.

"Then if I was you, I'd invest in a headband." Ino laughs, walking past him and towards their classroom.

Naruto watches the two girls leave with his mouth open in shock before a strangled whimper passes his lips and he scream, "You heartless girls!"

Classes began with Naruto's failure to convince the girls to not tell Aika-neechan of what happened at the academy entrance.

"Stop moaning and take your punishment like a man." Ino smirks gleefully before turning to the head of the class just as the chunin instructor entered.

Naruto, seeing the inevitability of the situation slammed his head into the desk in despair drawing everyone's attention.

Ino and Sakura giggle at their friend's antics.

 *******EPaNL*******

Umino Iruka, class 1A's head chunin instructor wasn't sure how to react. He had been assigned a very high profile class, a class full of students with great potential and with most of the clan heirs and heiresses. It was also a class that Uzumaki Naruto was part of, the child who carried the kyuubi no kitsune, the demon who made him an orphan. He was nervous about the following years for a number of reasons but a small ball of hatred had also found its way into the pit of his stomach when he heard what class he was assigned. So, it was no surprise that he had to forcefully compose himself before entering the classroom. Seeing the object of the villages and his own hatred slam his head into his desk mournfully and the Yamanaka heiress and her friend Haruno Sakura giggling at his expense wasn't what he expected when he entered the classroom.

Coughing loudly to draw attention back to himself Iruka stands before his class. "Settle down everyone, first I'll be taking role then we'll discuss what is expected of you this following year."

Everyone present and accounted for, Iruka hands out the syllabus for that year and spends the next hour discussing each subject in depth.

"Alright, are there any questions?" Iruka looks around briefly then sets the syllabus aside. "If there are no more questions, we're going to see what you all can do. Follow me to the training ground and for those who have them, bring your kunai and shuriken."

There were about thirty students in his class and everyone was performing as he expected. The clan children were decent, the clanless were awful with the exception of Haruno Sakura who did better but not the best. There were no surprises, he even expected Uchiha Sasuke's near perfect performance, he was an Uchiha after all. That was until Uzumaki Naruto stepped up.

Naruto, as a clanless reviled child of the hidden leaf, should not have been able to match Uchiha Sasuke in anything. But that is what he did. Naruto was near perfect in target practice. Practiced in the academy taijutsu katas. Could match the best number of sit ups, push-ups and pull ups. He wasn't the fastest but he certainly wasn't the slowest. And he had the best stamina in the entire class.

Iruka couldn't believe it. It made no sense what so ever for Naruto to be as good as he was without any help.

For the entire day, Uzumaki Naruto performed better than what others expected of him. That wasn't to say he _outperformed_ the other students, because he didn't, but when you expect nothing from someone who should be nothing, you noticed when they turn out to be something.

His surprise had him watching Naruto discreetly throughout the day, even as he left the academy, accompanied with Ino and Sakura.

"You're not really going to tell her, are you Ino? You wouldn't be that mean, would you?" He heard Naruto plead.

"I'm not being mean," Ino grins, contradicting her own words in taking pleasure from his panic.

"Yeah Naruto, we're just helping you with your training. That's what friends are for right?" Sakura grins.

"You guys have been hanging around neechan _way_ to long." Naruto states, eye twitching in annoyance.

"Oh? You make that sound as though that's a bad thing, _Na_ - _ru_ - _to_."

The small group of children and even Iruka turn their heads quickly to see a tree beside the academy entrance slowly turn into a woman in her early twenties with indigo blue eyes and straight black hair that traveled past her knees.

"Aika-neechan," Naruto laughs nervously.

"What is it you wanted to tell me Ino?" The woman named Aika asks, never letting her eyes leave Naruto.

"Oh! Right!" Ino says then smiles sweetly. "This morning Naruto was standing dazed out in front of the academy and I managed to go up to him and push him down. He didn't even fall right, he just fell flat on his _face_."

" _Oh_?" Aika whispers, provoking a shiver to crawl down his back. She wasn't even looking at him and he was wary.

Naruto on the other hand, being under the full weight of Aika-neechan's stare was having a mild panic attack inside.

 _'_ _Okay, so Ino spilled the beans, can't do anything about that now'._ Now, Naruto had four options.

One, he could do nothing and just take the punishment, an option that wasn't _really_ even an option in his book.

Two, he could fight. That's right, _that_ was an option. During the time Aika-neechan had been training him, she had dropped some hints about how he could escape the penalty for doing something wrong, like not being aware of his surroundings and letting someone get behind him and 'attacking' him. Fighting was one of these options. If he managed to last a full thirty minutes, he could escape punishment. He, however, was not quite there yet. He could only last a full _five_ minutes.

Option three was to run. If he evaded capture for three hours, punishment averted. He was pretty good at that, not good enough to evade her for three hours but he had a chance, a chance that became slim considering they were in an unfamiliar part of the village and non-existent when he realized that even if he did manage to find some place to hide, if only _one_ person saw him, they'd likely out him.

So that left option four, _lie_ like his eyebrows depended on it.

Which they did.

"She's just wants to see me punished, I managed to avoid her attempt to push me just in time." Naruto huffs angrily. The best lies have some truths. Cover your bases, she might have heard him asking Ino if she was really going to tell her. "Then she threatened to tell you otherwise so I was asking her not to."

Ino smiles wickedly. She _liked_ this game. The first-time Naruto used option four against what Ino had said, she was _pissed_. She didn't appreciate being called a liar when she was telling the truth. Then, Aika-neechan explained things to her. Explained that Naruto was a dirt-poor liar and if he was ever caught in a situation where he needed to lie his way out of trouble, he needed practice. So _now_ , Ino and Sakura saw option four as a sort of game. The 'let's see if Naruto can talk his way out of _this'_ game.

"I'm pretty sure an unbiased individual can be witness to what I did and what you _failed_ to do." Ino says slyly.

"It _was_ right in front of the academy." Sakura adds sweetly.

"Just before classes started. There were like _two_ people running late and I _doubt_ we'd find either considering classes were just let out." Naruto retorts, arms crossed challengingly. "Do you see them around?"

"You seem oddly confident Naruto," Ino quips.

"Because I know even if they are here, it would prove my point." Naruto says, then sees one of said individuals standing behind Ino. Naruto tenses minutely, thought whirling and panicked. "And even if they don't, who's to say they saw anything?"

Aika-neechan laughs, bringing the playful argument to an end. "Alright, you were pretty convincing Naruto. I still don't believe you but your lie was good enough that'll I'll let it pass."

Naruto deflates, sighing in relief and wipes his brow.

"You need to control your breathing and heart rate." Aika-neechan says, seeing the sweat he collected. "Your body language and words were well done but if you don't have sufficient control of your body, people will see the contradictions and call you out on your lie."

Naruto answers with a feeble thumb up and tries to calm his heart.

"I was really looking forward to seeing an eyebrow less Naruto," Ino sighs dramatically.

Naruto glares and Sakura and Aika laugh.

"Maybe next time Ino-chan," Aika says, sharing a conspiring smile with the girl.

" _No_!" Naruto shouts. "No next time! I will escape! I'll never let you finish your master plan!"

"Never say never Naruto," Sakura smiles. "We'll just have to try harder."

Naruto stares at the girl in shock. Sweet _kind_ Sakura, she has finally been corrupted! Naruto hurriedly looks between the girls and woman closest to him, horror clear on his expression. "You're all _evil_. Devils in disguise!" Naruto shouts, pointing accusatory fingers at them all.

"Now now Naruto, no need to make a scene." Aika-neechan says, amusement in her eyes. "You can keep your eyebrows for _now_. I have a surprise for you, so let's get going."

"Bye Naruto! Bye Aika-neechan!" Ino yells as they walk away.

"See you tomorrow Naruto!" Sakura shouts.

Naruto and Aika-neechan wave back in acknowledgment then turn the corner, out of sight of all those who watched. Which were quite a few people.

"You know them, Ino?" Shikamaru asks, approaching the two girls. Shikamaru and Choji, coincidentally enough were the two people witness to Naruto's fall.

Sakura turns to her friend inquiringly. She had never met the two boys before but they seemed to know her friend.

"This is Shikamaru and that's Choji." Ino sighs gesturing to the two boys. "Our dads are best friends and former teammates so we grew up together. And _yeah_ Shikamaru, I know them. Naruto's in our class you lazy bum and Aika-neechan is his sensei. You've actually met Naruto once before."

"What are you taking about?" Shikamaru asks confused. "I would have remembered meeting such a loud brightly colored guy. He's kind of hard to miss. I'm lazy not dead or blind."

"He wasn't really Naruto at the time." Ino replies. "Don't you remember that friend I brought to the clan meeting? The cute one with black hair and green eyes? That was Naruto under a transformation jutsu."

" _Ino_ , we weren't supposed to tell anyone!" Sakura hisses.

"Don't worry," Ino says brushing off Sakura's concern. "That clan meeting I took him to was his final test. After that he said I didn't have to keep it secret anymore."

"Wait, are you saying Shiragiku Kiku was actually Uzumaki Naruto?" Shikamaru asks stunned. The first girl he met who _wasn't_ troublesome was actually a _guy_.

"Yup."

Choji's bag of chips fall to the floor and everyone turns to look at him. "She was so nice." He whispers mournfully.

He wouldn't admit it out loud but he shared his friend's sentiment. They were too young to even think of dating, no matter _what_ the girls said, but it would have been nice having one female friend who wasn't such a _drag_.

"Sorry Choji," Ino apologizes awkwardly, picking up his bag of chips and handing them back to the full-bodied boy. "Naruto was just practicing his jutsu, but he's a pretty decent guy once you take the time to get to know him. He's busy most of the time with training but he can be fun to hang with too."

The boy nods, still a little dazed over the loss of a potential crush and Shikamaru leads Choji away and back home, saying goodbye to Ino and Sakura.

Iruka watched all this, finally making sense of the pariah named Naruto. So, he wasn't as alone as he thought. Shiragiku Aika had taken him in and was teaching him to be a ninja. He wasn't sure how he felt about all this but he knew of Shiragiku Aika. She had suffered just as much if not more than he had when the kyuubi no kitsune attacked Konoha nearly six years ago. No one was really sure of the details but it was well known that most of the Shiragiku family died because of the kyuubi and that Aika had to be institutionalized because of it all for four years, likely ruining her ninja career. If someone like her gave the boy a home, taught him and obviously cared about him, shouldn't he at least give Naruto a _chance_?

He wasn't sure and honestly, he wanted to hang onto that hate at least a little but longer. It was nice to have someone to blame for your misfortune... But it wasn't right.

Sighing, Iruka turns back to the academy to grade the evaluation test he had given his class that day.

It was going to be a long day.

* * *

 **A/N: IMPORTANT! For all those who care for regular updates, I need to inform you that I won't be able to add a new chapter next Saturday. I have a friend who needs help this week and I won't have a chance to add a chapter. I WILL however be able to the _following_ Saturday. Sorry for the inconvenience.**

 **Please review, follow or favorite. Thank you for reading!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: So... Some of you,maybe even** ** _all_** **of you, are probably reading this and expecting a new chapter... Well~ thing is~ While I was over at my friends the week before, I had her read it. I kinda just slapped together a story and just** ** _wrote._** **I didn't have a plan and was going she would help me out with it... Thing is... She poked so many holes into my story it looked like Swiss cheese and she didn't even get half way through what I had already written. I couldn't look at it the same way again...**

 **So, after some very helpful and insightful conversation... A plan was made. I now actually have an entire skeleton of a story with some fat and muscle thrown in! Yay!** ** _But..._** **I have to work from scratch. You'll be seeing a lot of what I've already written but... There's still too much that changed for me just to work it in as I go... Or at least for me.**

 **I have the prologue and almost first chapter but I would like a** ** _little_** **more room to work with. So in like two weeks, I'm more than likely going to take this story down and if I have a decent amount of chapters by then, I'll post the revised version, if not, I'm thinking a month. I'm sorry for the trouble and thank you for taking the time to read this story.**


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